FILM: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

“...The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is actually Ravla Khempur, a charming rural palace hotel in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, about an hour outside the spectacular lakeside city of Udaipur…. with a history dating from the early 17th Century...”  (John Bealby, MailOnLine, March 3, 2012)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2110061/Holidays-India-Follow-footsteps-cast-The-Best-Exotic-Marigold-Hotel.html#ixzz1wXvvsMtN

John, my husband, is utterly seduced by India, and so of course, this film was a must-see.  It’s very well done, with a wonderful English cast, so very polished, understated, and  with exquisite acting.  The tourist dream of India plays out most delightfully - what an overwhelming, truly exotic place it must be.  

The aging inhabitants, faced with unexpected financial failures, find newly purposeful lives, closure, love, and geriatric sex, without worries about medical insurance or missing their grandchildrens’ early years.  Of course, Wi-Fi always works, even though the plumbing doesn’t.  Poignant and comedic moments, the story of daily life begun anew, is narrated in a blog voice-over by Judi Dench’s character.  I’ve seen so many films and TV shows with this device that I’m afraid my blog will start sounding like one!

Dev Patel is really comic, an appealing young actor, and the Indian cast is quite wonderful, too. So, do go, if you are a lover of English movies, even if you’re not, it’s a lovely fantasy with its quiet lessons about dignity in aging.